The present invention relates to an assembly for mounting plates of marble, ceramic or similar materials on a wall.
It has been a common practice to attach such plates to the wall by applying mortar to the back of plates and pressing the plates against the wall. The conventional method requires highly skilled hands in obtaining uniformity in the width of joint or in making even the surface of the plates.
The more the vertical number of plates attached to the wall, the more the lower plates are liable to peel off the wall under the weight of upper plates, causing all the plates to fall off the wall. This limits the vertical number of plates which can be mounted on the wall.
In order to solve these problems, the applicant proposed a fitting assembly comprising a plurality of horizontal joiners arranged on the wall one above another at predetermined spacings (Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 54-7631). In the prior art assembly, the plate is firstly lifted to fit the downwardly extending flange of the upper joiner in the groove formed in the top of the plate. Then the plate is lowered to fit the upwardly extending flange of the lower joiner in the groove formed in the bottom of the plate. If the plate is large in size and heavy, it is difficult to fit smoothly in the top groove. In addition to those who lift the plate (a large plate has to be lifted by two persons), an extra one is needed to fit in the grooves. Another problem is that the grooves formed in the top and bottom of each plate have to be relatively wide to allow fitting in the grooves. This is difficult for thin plates.